Numerous fluorinated compositions have been used as coating compositions for application to substrates (for example, hard surface substrates and fibrous substrates) to impart low surface energy characteristics such as oil and/or water repellency (oleophobicity and/or hydrophobicity). When used in coatings or films, however, many fluorinated materials have tended to diffuse to the surface of the coating or film and to become depleted over time (for example, due to repeated cleanings of the surface).
This has led to the use of fluorinated derivatives having reactive or functional groups (for example, fluorinated polyether thiols) to enable covalent attachment to the coatings, films, or substrate surfaces. The preparation of such functional derivatives has often required the use of complex, multi-step processes, the use of difficult-to-prepare intermediates, and/or has resulted in a product mixture rather than substantially purely the desired derivative compound.
Other approaches to improving durability have involved the use of primers (for example, polysilazanes) to pretreat substrate surfaces prior to application of a fluorinated composition. This has required the use of multiple process steps (and often the use of expensive materials), however, and thus has resulted in additional time, additional expense, and/or less compatibility with existing manufacturing processes.
Finally, the various fluorinated surface treatments have varied in their ease of applicability to substrates (for example, due to differences in viscosity and/or in solvent solubilities), in their requisite curing conditions (for example, some requiring relatively high curing temperatures for relatively long periods of time), in their repellency levels, in their ease of cleaning, in their degrees of optical clarity, in their chemical resistance, and/or in their solvent resistance. Many have also been at least somewhat substrate-specific, requiring production of multiple compositions to ensure adhesion to different substrates.